1 ¶ Woe to the pastors who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD.

2 This is what the LORD God of Israel says against the pastors who feed my people; You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: therefore know, that I will bring the evil of your doings upon you, says the LORD.

3 And I will gather what is left of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them back to their folds; and they will be fruitful and increase.

4 And I will set shepherds over them who will feed them: and they will no longer be afraid, or terrified, and none will be missing, says the LORD.

5 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, when I will raise to David a righteous Branch, who will reign as King and prosper, and will execute judgment and justice in the earth.

6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely: and this is the name by which he will be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

7 Therefore, know that the days come, says the LORD, when they will no longer say, The LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

8 But, The LORD lives, who brought and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them; and they will dwell in their own land.

9 ¶ My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones tremble; I am like a drunken man, and like a man overcome with wine, because of the LORD, and his holy words when he says.

10 The land is full of adulterers; and because of a curse the land mourns; and the pastures in the open country dry up, their way of life is evil, and they do not use their strength for what is right.

11 For both prophet and priest are ungodly; yes, I have even found their wickedness in my temple, says the LORD.

12 Therefore their path will be to them like slippery ground in the darkness: they will be driven on, and fall there: for I will bring disaster upon them, a year when they will be punished, says the LORD.

13 And I have seen stupidity in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.

14 I have also seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one repents of his wickedness: all of them are like Sodom in my sight, and the people of the city like Gomorrah.

15 Therefore the LORD of hosts says this concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for wickedness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem throughout all the land.

16 The LORD of hosts says, Do not listen to what the prophets who prophesy to you say: they give you empty hopes: they tell you about visions from their own imagination, and not from the mouth of the LORD.

17 They are saying to those who despise me, The LORD has said, You will have peace; and they say to every one who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart, No evil will come upon you.

18 For who has stood in the LORD’S inner circle, and sees and hears what he says? who pays attention and listens to what he says?

19 Behold, a whirlwind from the LORD has gone forth in anger, even a tornado: and it will come down hard upon the heads of the wicked.

20 The anger of the LORD will not cease, until he is finished, and until he has carried out the thoughts of his heart: in the time to come you will understand it clearly.

21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

23 Am I a God nearby, asks the LORD, and not a God far off?

24 Can anyone hide himself in a secret place where I will not see him? asks the LORD. Don’t I fill heaven and earth? asks the LORD.

25 I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? yes, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

27 Who intend to make my people forget my name by their dreams which they tell one another, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

28 The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the LORD.

29 Is not my word like a fire? asks the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

30 Therefore, know that I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who steal my words every one from his neighbor.

31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who use their tongues, and say, He says.

32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, says the LORD, and tell them, causing my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; since I did not send them, or command them: they will not benefit these people at all, says the LORD.

33 ¶ And when these people, a prophet, or a priest, asks you, What is the burden of the LORD? tell them, You are the burden! And I will dump you, says the LORD.

34 And when a prophet, or a priest, or anyone, says, The burden of the LORD, I will punish that man and his house.

35 You should say this to each other, and every one to his brother, What is the LORD’S answer? and, What has the LORD said?

36 But never mention the burden of the LORD again: for each man’s word becomes his burden; and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts our God.

37 This is what you should ask the prophet, What has the LORD told you? and, What has the LORD said?

38 But if you say, The burden of the LORD; then the LORD says; Because you say this phrase, The burden of the LORD, when I sent to you, saying, You must not say, The burden of the LORD;

39 Know that I, myself, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave to you and your fathers, and throw you down to get you out of my sight:

40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which will never be forgotten.